SCARLETS boss Nigel Davies admits his squad has been decimated for the LV Cup trip to the Dragons tomorrow (1pm).

Davies’ men have nine senior squad players on international duty, a group of Scarlets academy and development players with Wales U20 and U18s, two with Wales Sevens (Richie Pugh and Lees Rees) and another 16 injured.

The region has called on the services of a number of Llanelli regulars for this fixture as well as a core of development players within the Scarlets set-up.

“It is a challenging time for us as we have a 38-man squad and most are out on international duties or injured,” said Davies.

“However the flip side of that is that we are handing opportunities to a lot of players eager to prove themselves.”

Scarlets prop Phil John takes the captain’s armband with former Wales tighthead Rhys Thomas back from injury.

The Dragons aim to secure their first LV semi-final spot.

The Gwent region top their pool, one point ahead of Saracens, and know victory will be enough to secure qualification on the number of victories.